Brian May says he was originally “irritated” by audience sing-alongs
Queen guitarist Brian May has said that he was initially irritated by audiences singing along to the band’s songs. During a recent interview, May explained that he wanted fans to listen to the lyrics they’d spent such a long time crafting.
“Because we thought: ‘People, just listen. We’re working really hard, so bloody well listen!’” the guitarist said. “But they were unstoppable.” Things changed following a performance of the band’s anthemic track, ‘We Will Rock You’, at Bingley Hall, England, in the late ’70s. May told frontman Freddie Mercury to encourage the crowd to sing along, hoping that it would elevate the “energy” of the concert.
According to May, the audience took that encouragement and ran with it. “Anyway, that night at Bingley Hall, we came off stage and we all looked at each other in amazement, because all that singing from the audience was so extreme,” he said. “And I said to Freddie, ‘Maybe, instead of fighting this, we should be encouraging it. Maybe we should be harnessing this kind of energy which seems to be happening.’ And we all agreed that this was something really interesting that we should experiment.”
In that same interview, May discussed the influence of legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on his style. “I owe a lot to Jimmy Page, of course – the master of the riff, and the master of getting lost deliberately in time signatures,” he said. “I think that song ‘[Now I’m Here’] was inspired, definitely, by the spirit of Zeppelin.”
May recently paid tribute to late guitarist Jeff Beck in a touching video about what he believes to be “the most beautiful bit of guitar music ever recorded”. The Queen guitarist notes: “If you [want to] hear his depth of emotion and sound and phrasing and the way he could touch your soul, listen to ‘Where Were You’ off [Beck’s] Guitar Shop album. Just Google ‘Where Were You Jeff Beck’ and sit down and listen to it for four minutes. It’s unbelievable.”
May continued: “It’s possibly the most beautiful bit of guitar music ever recorded, probably alongside Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing.’ So sensitive, so beautiful, so incredibly creative and unlike anything you’ve ever heard anywhere else. Yes, of course, he had his influences too, but he brought an amazing voice to rock music which will never, ever be emulated or equalled.”
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